Chapter 1               

Ben climbed out his second-floor window sidled along the ledge to where he could drop onto the shed roof and slide to the street. Being late for school one more time would get him punishment duty again.

Ben rolled on the cobble stones and sprinted through the alleyways he’d learned over the past years gave him the quickest route to school. His father suggested he discipline himself to wake up earlier to give him a more sedate journey to the Kingsberg School. Ben thought of his daily obstacle course as training, only without anyone yelling at him.

He vaulted over the school’s back wall, slid in through the grounds keeper’s door, then braked to a sedate walk through the door into the class.

“Impressive.” Ser Myco peered at the time glass on his desk. “You have almost ten seconds to get to your seat. However, entering the school through anything but the front doors is unacceptable. Report to Mr. Sands for duty after class. I’m sure you’ll be able to find him since you’ve been helping him regularly.”

“Thank you, Ser Myco.” Ben bowed slightly. “I will adjust my route accordingly.” He plunked into his seat and Bridget elbowed him, a bit harder than he thought necessary.

Ser Myco sighed and stood straighter.

“If you didn’t already have a basic understanding of the Law Spell, you wouldn’t be in this class, so I’ll dispense with the summary.”

Ben followed along with the lecture. He’d been hoping for more detail about how the spell worked and what lines it drew, but they only got a slightly more complicated version of what they’d been taught the first day of school. Each year the language grew denser, but the explanation he craved never came. When they graduated, they’d be adults and the spell would read their intent. If they intended to disturb the peace, their actions would be forbidden. It fascinated him. How did the spell know? Was it ever wrong?

They finished with Law and split up to study the many other subjects offered. Bridget headed for the crafting room. Ben headed outside to join the weapons group. He picked out a staff after inspecting it for flaws that could damage his hands or cause it to break.

“Still with the stick.” Kam laughed and picked a sword and shield.

“I’ll pick a sword and shield the day you defeat me.” Ben grinned at his friend. Kam had enough reach to almost make up for the staff’s length, but he needed to work on not forecasting his attacks.

Pug brushed against Ben and sniffed, making a scene of brushing off his fine clothes. “You are covered with dust, again.”

“Really?” Ben slapped his thighs. “I don’t see it. It must be your superior sight.”

Pug stomped out into the field pulling his sword from his bag. It had to be nice being a noble’s kid and having a magic bag, even an old one his brother had used.

Mer Kassen stood, hands on hips, and levelled her gaze at them. When the rest of the group showed up, she made all of them run laps holding their chosen weapons over their heads.

After the warmups, they broke into pairs for sparring. Pug ruled the class as his sword, like his bag, was magic. The sword blurred, making it hard for Ben to predict the attack, but seeing Pug sweat in his fine clothes was worth a few bruises.

“Today, we will spar in threes.” Mer Kassen announced after the first round of fights.

“Two against one is hardly sporting.” Pug wiped his face with a fine handkerchief.

“Neither are magic swords.” Mer Kassen glared at him.

Two of his friends, Katleen and Whisp teamed up against Ben. They giggled as they chased him around, Katleen had the strength to lock up his staff while Whisp slipped behind to poke him with her sword. They made a good team bringing together strength and agility. If Ben spun his staff in circles around him, he kept them at a distance but meant he couldn’t attack either of them.

Kam had partnered with another boy and were giving Pug a hard time. Pug was as tall as Ben, but soft. He got out of breath quickly and depended too much on his noble blood to intimidate his opponents.

 Katleen clipped Ben’s head while he was watching the others. He dropped the staff and put a hand to his ear. It came away bloody.

“Sorry.” Katleen looked green, but Whisp sighed and put her hand on Ben’s ear and whispered something. The pain faded and Ben smiled at her.

“Not your fault, Katleen.” Ben said, “I should have paid attention.”

“No magic without permission.” Mer Kassen came over and inspected Ben’s ear. “But you did a fair enough job.”

Whisp pinkened at their teacher coming as close to praise as she ever did.

Ben’s next class was monsters, but it really was just reading books in the library.

“Why don’t we ever go outside the walls and study real monsters?” Ben asked Anton, the instructor.

Anton pointed to the missing lower half of his left leg. “King doesn’t want students dying or losing body parts. It is more dangerous than you think out there.”

Ben shrugged and returned to his book, an encyclopedia of monsters, their strengths and weaknesses, and what they were used for. The most expensive items in Ben’s family’s store were made from monster materials.

He found his usual table for lunch. Bridget pushed her lunch over for him to share, while Katleen and Whisp sat on either side of him. Kam sat beside Bridget while Paula, another member of their group, took the last seat.

“If you’d just wake up earlier, you would be able to bring your own lunch.” Bridget rolled her eyes at Ben.

“True, but then you’d have to eat everything you bring yourself.” Ben grabbed a sandwich.

Bridget huffed at him but looked over at Paula. “Where were you this morning? It isn’t like you to miss morning classes.”

“I’m leaving school.” Paula grinned. Ben had known her for years, but she wasn’t as bossy as Bridget. This was as excited as he’d ever seen her. “My father is heading to the south icelands to study the wildlife there. I’m going with him.”

“But you won’t graduate.” Bridget turned to face Paula.

“I have permission to do independent study. Mother said she’s okay with it too. I’ll have two years with father to myself.”

“You might have to share with the snowbears and pinbirds.” Katleen smiled.

“I can live with that.” Paula’s grin widened.

“Congratulations.” Ben said. “I hope you have a great time.”

“I’m sure I will.” Paula blushed. “Mother told me school is the best time to find a partner, but I haven’t had any luck, so she said I could go. Just made me promise not to marry a scientist while I was away.”

Ben laughed with the others. Since Paula was leaving the next week, Bridget arranged for them to gather on the rest day to say their farewells.

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